R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Fatehgarh Sahib
Drug haul: Bail plea rejected: The Sessions Court on Saturday rejected the bail application of dismissed Assistant Sub-Inspector Sarabjit Singh, an accused in the Rs 484 crore drug haul case. The prosecution lawyer opposed the bail application stating that heavy quantity of sedative drugs were recovered from the house of the accused in Nayagaon near Chandigarh. The court also dismissed the bail application of Harpreet Singh, another accused in the case.

Fazilka
13 bombshells seized: The CIA has recovered 13 rocket launcher bombshells from scrap dealer, Sohal Lal, at Beganwali village of Fazilka subdivision. The CIA had raided the place on a tip-off. They are yet to confirm whether the bombs were live. Lal has been arrested and booked under the Arms Act.

moga
Bar elections: Ramesh Grover has been elected president of the Moga District Bar Association. The elections were held on Saturday. He defeated Nasib Singh Bawa by a margin of 53 votes. Bawa was elected Bar president on 12 occasions in the past. Other office-bearers include Sukhwinder Singh Ramuwalia, general secretary; Devinder Pal Singh Khosa, vice-president; Sarabjit Singh Cheema, joint secretary; and Sukhwinder Singh Sidhu, finance secretary.

patiala
19,077 turn up for job rally: A total of 19,077 youths have so far turned up for the Army's recruitment rally that began at the Patiala Military Station on April 3. It will continue till April 9. A total of 16,672 candidates have been screened from the districts of Mansa, Patiala, Barnala, Fatehgarh Sahib and Sangrur. The rally is being hosted by the Army Recruiting Office, Patiala, under the aegis of Headquarters Recruitment Zone (Punjab and J&K), Jalandhar Cantonment.

Phagwara
Nepali national murdered: An unidentified middle-aged Nepali national was murdered allegedly by his distant relative here on Friday. The deceased's body was found on the field of a farmer, Mohan Lal, of Ucha village on the Phagwara-Zandiala road. A case has been registered.

Tarn Taran
Bank cashier booked: Kulbir Singh, cashier of Gramin Vikas Bank, Harike branch, was booked for allegedly defrauding several customers. The accused siphoned off a total of Rs 3.59 lakh from the accounts of several customers in the last one year. After complaints of irregularities, branch manager Jaspal Singh conducted an inquiry and detected the fraud. The accused is absconding.

Molestion: Two booked: Sukhraj Singh and Kabal Singh, both residents of Booh village, have been booked for allegedly molesting a woman of the same village. In her complaint to the police, the victim alleged the accused, her business rivals, molested her and tore her clothes when she had gone to the village market.

1 killed in mishap: Satnam Singh (35), a resident of Khawaspur village was killed while Gurpreet Singh received serious injuries when the motorcycle they were riding on was allegedly hit by a car near Naurangabad village on Friday. The driver of the car, Harjit Singh of Warana village, has been booked by the local Sadar police.

HARYANA

Kaithal
Night camp held at Kheri Lamba village: Deputy Commissioner Chander Shekhar said for the first time in the state, 105 mutations were sanctioned and 42 birth and death certificates were issued during a night camp at Kheri Lamba village in Kalayat block. The DC also launched the Priyadarshini Aawas Yojna from the village. He said the next night camp would be organised at Atela village in Siwan block on April 18. While addressing villagers at the 17th night camp, he urged them to maintain an amicable atmosphere in society. He asked them to keep a strict vigil on the activities of their children so that they did not fall in bad company. He said an amount of Rs 40 lakh under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act scheme would be provided for developing a park in the village. He said an amount of Rs 8.06 lakh under the Indira Gandhi Priyadarshini Vivah Shagun Yojna had been transferred to the accounts of 21 beneficiaries of Kalayat block. 

HIMACHAL PRADESH

HAMIRPUR
Two booked: The Hamirpur police has booked a local shopkeeper and his wife for allegedly damaging public property. The Hamirpur SP said the police had received a complaint from the SDO, subdivision No.2 of Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board Limited (HPSEBL), against Rajender Pal and his wife Urmila Devi for allegedly dismantling newly raised walls of their office adjacent to the shop of the accused in the main market on Thursday night. The accused have been booked under the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act. 

SHIMLA
BJP meeting on April 9: The newly constituted state office-bearers of the BJP will meet here on April 9 in the presence of Rajya Sabha MP PK Dhumal, senior leader Shanta Kumar and state BJP chief Satpal Singh Satti. The state BJP executive will be announced before this. Stating this, general secretary of the state BJP Rajeev Bindal said, “With a new team put in place, the party will discuss various matters related to the party programmes to be launched in the coming days.” The party would now focus on gearing up for the Lok Sabha elections that could take place earlier than the scheduled time, he added.

DEHRADUN

almora
Almora civic body poll: Sixteen candidates from the BJP demanded ticket to fight the election for the post of chairman of the nagar palika parishad in Almora town at a meeting with the party observers on Saturday. “At an in-camera meeting, we found 16 candidates aspiring to fight the election for the post of chairman of the nagar palika. The BJP will contest the civic body election with a resolve to defeat the Congress,” said Balraj Passi, a BJP observer.

Bageshwar
Tributes to Gandhiji’s associate: The 112th birth anniversary of late Sarla Behn, an associate of Mahatma Gandhi, who worked for the uplift of the hill women from her ashram at Kaushani, was celebrated by her disciples in Bageshwar, Pithoragarh and Almora districts on Friday. “Sarla Behn, who lived in the hills of Kumaon for 50 years, worked for the uplift of the hill women. We are organising peace demonstrations and plantation programmes on her 112th birth anniversary,” said Sharda Bidushi, secretary of the Sarla Behn Vishwa Bandhu Nyas.

Dehradun
Union Week celebrations:The Union Week celebrations at Shri Guru Ram Rai (PG) College concluded here on Saturday. Former Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, who was the chief guest on the occasion, appreciated the quality of education being imparted at the college. Garhwal singer Kisan Mahipal enthralled the audience with his performance. Principal VK Borayee and Students' Union president Bhajan Singh Rawat were also present. 

Compensation sought: Harrawala villagers in Dehradun, who are facing problems due to the widening of the Dehradun-Haridwar highway, have sought adequate compensation from the authorities. The villagers met the officials concerned and demanded compensation for land, houses and shops that are being demolished due to the widening of the highway.

Employees threaten stir: Employees of the state Irrigation Department have threatened to go on a strike from May 3 if their long-standing demand for the re-structuring of the department is not fulfilled. A meeting of the department was held at Yamuna Colony here, where speakers alleged that the state government had
failed to fulfil its promise of re-structuring the department. 

Cricket tourney from April 8: The Uttarakhand State Civil Services Cricket Tournament will be held at the Rangers' College Ground here from April 8 to 14. The tournament is being organised by the Secretariat Cricket Club. State Assembly, State Public Works Department, Uttarakhand Power Corporation Limited, State Agriculture Department and State Irrigation Department are some of the prominent teams participating in the tournament. 

Modi to visit Patanjali: Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi will be visiting Patanjali Yogpeeth in Haridwar on April 26. Besides attending programmes at the yogpeeth, Modi will discuss the prevailing political situation in the country with yoga guru Ramdev. 

Haldwani
97,666 voters in Haldwani: A total of 97,666 persons will cast votes in the election of the Haldwani Nagar Nigam. Some of the wards have a higher number of women voters, sources in the nigam said. Of the total number of voters in Haldwani, 47,131 are women.

Kashipur
Move to abolish ASP post:Traders gheraoed a senior police officer on Saturday in protest against an order of the Police Department to abolish the post of ASP in the town. They handed over a memorandum to him demanding that the post be maintained. “We will launch an agitation if the post of ASP is not maintained as the crime rate in and around the Kashipur area is rising continuously,” said Shabir Ahmed, leader of traders.

Ramnagar
7 poachers arrested: Forest Department officials nabbed seven poachers from the Bailparav range of the Terai western forest division on Saturday. According to the forest officials, when a camera installed at the range was found missing they suspected the persons to be poachers. “When we operated the second camera, we traced the poachers,” said Nishant Verma, DFO. He added that a gun and ammunition was also found from the possession of the poachers. The arrested youths are locals and have confessed to have entered the forest to poach upon a deer.

(Compiled by BD Kasniyal)